This application relates generally to inflating needles and, more particularly, to methods and apparatus for retaining inflating needles.
As the popularity of sports, from professional levels through the youngest amateur levels, has risen over the years, the sales of equipment used in the associated sports has also risen. Over the years, although much of the equipment used in many of the popular sports has changed, one aspect that has not changed is the need to inflate the balls used in many sports, including, but not limited to volleyball, soccer, basketball, and football. More specifically, one piece of essential equipment to such sports is an inflating needle used to inflate the balls used in such sports.
Known inflating needles include a small needle-like shank which is hollow and is provided with a rounded end having a discharge opening adjacent thereto. An opposite upper end of the inflating needle includes an externally threaded fitting. The threaded fitting enables the inflating needle to couple to a conventional hand-operated, foot-operated, or electrically-operated inflating pump. More specifically, inflating pumps of conventional construction include a threaded end that is sized to couple to a flexible hose that includes a threaded connector. The hose threaded connector is sized to threadibly couple to a valve stem for supplying air through the valve stem assembly into an inflatable vessel, such as a bicycle tire.
Because the inflating needle must first be threadibly coupled to the hose threaded connector to inflate a ball, inflating needles are often carried to sporting events for use in inflating the balls. More specifically, because of the relative small size of such needles, people often carry the inflating needles to sporting events in their clothing pockets. However, because the inflating needle shanks are small and hollow, the shanks may be easily and undesirably bent as the needles are transported and removed from a clothing pocket, rendering the inflating needle shank useless.
To facilitate eliminating a separate inflating needle to be used, at least some known pumps are assembled such that the inflating needle is permanently attached to an end of the pump. However, because the needle extends from an end of the pump, the inflating needle shank may still become inadvertently damaged. Additionally, such pumps are limited for use with valve assemblies that accept inflating needles, and as such may be more expensive than other conventional inflating pumps.